Yesterday, the United States Marshals Service announced the arrest of Brandon Frackenpohl, a suspect in a disturbing criminal case emerging from Airway Heights, Washington. Frackenpohl, 34, faced an arrest warrant since September 18 after fleeing the state when he was accused of raping and molesting an eight-year-old child on June 30 of this year, according to the U.S. Marshals.
Taken into custody an hour outside Klamath Falls, Oregon by the USMS Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force and local sheriff deputies, Frackenpohl's capture ends a nearly four-month manhunt. Frackenpohl who now faces a first-degree charge both for rape of a child and child molestation was located without causing any incidents, the swift action is the result of inter-agency cooperation that marshaled the combined forces of law enforcement agencies in apprehending the alleged perpetrator.
In a statement released by the U.S. Marshals, Craig Thayer, the United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Washington, spoke to a communal responsibility to protect children, saying, "Our children are our most precious resource, and we all share the greatest responsibility to insure their physical and emotional safety and wellbeing." Thayer also praised the relentless pursuit of those accused of sexual abuse crimes against children, noting that these efforts are crucial to ensuring that the accused respond to such charges in a court of law.
